Can you keep your HDB and buy a condo? Yes, once your flat has met its minimum occupation period and you meet HDB’s conditions for acquiring private property. But the condo is then your second home: a Singapore Citizen couple pays 20% Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty with no refund, and if the HDB loan is still running, a bank may lend only 45% of the price.
Here is what keeping the flat costs, using IRAS and MAS rules as at November 2026, and how it compares with selling first.
Keep HDB and Buy Condo: The Rules That Apply
- MOP first. You and your spouse cannot buy private property, in Singapore or overseas, until the flat’s MOP is met, counted to the date you exercise the option or sign the agreement. See our MOP guide.
- ABSD on a second home. IRAS charges a Citizen 20% on a second residential property and 30% on a third; a Permanent Resident pays 30% on a second. The married couple refund needs the first home sold within six months, so a kept flat means ABSD stays paid.
- Lower loan limit while the HDB loan runs. MAS’s LTV limits depend on how many housing loans you have outstanding: 75% with none, 45% with one, with at least 25% in cash. A fully repaid HDB loan does not count.
- Both instalments count. Under TDSR, the HDB instalment plus the new loan must fit within 55% of income. Rental income counts after a haircut of at least 30%.
The Cost of Keeping vs Selling
An illustrative Citizen couple, both 40, earn S$14,000 a month and still owe $100,000 on their HDB loan ($900 a month). They look at a $1.2 million completed condo with a 25-year bank loan. Our own figures; illustration only.
| Sell the flat first | Keep the flat, HDB loan running | Keep the flat, HDB loan repaid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABSD | Nil | $240,000 | $240,000 |
| Buyer’s Stamp Duty | $32,600 | $32,600 | $32,600 |
| Bank loan limit | 75%: $900,000 | 45%: $540,000 | 75%: $900,000 |
| Minimum cash | 5%: $60,000 | 25%: $300,000 | 5%: $60,000 |
| Downpayment plus stamp duties | $332,600 | $932,600 | $572,600 |
Keeping the flat with its loan running nearly triples the money needed upfront. Repaying the HDB loan first restores the 75% limit, but the $240,000 ABSD remains.
Run the sale-first version through our HDB upgrade calculator, and check each duty in the stamp duty calculator.
The short version: Keeping your HDB and buying a condo is allowed after the MOP, but the condo is a second home: 20% ABSD for a Citizen, no refund unless the flat is sold within six months, and a 45% loan limit while any HDB loan is outstanding.
Renting Out the Flat: What It Changes
If you plan to rent out the flat, these are the rules, from our guide to renting out an HDB flat:
- Who can. Only Singapore Citizen owners can rent out the whole flat, only after the MOP, with HDB’s approval. Plus and Prime flats can never be rented out whole.
- Tax on the rent. Rental income is taxable after allowable expenses.
- Property tax rises. A married couple gets owner-occupier rates on only one home. The let flat moves to non-owner-occupier rates starting at 12%. On an illustrative Annual Value of $28,000 that is $3,360 a year, against $80 or less as an owner-occupied flat with a similar AV of $14,000. See property tax in Singapore.
Put the ABSD next to the rent. At an assumed $3,000 a month, the flat earns $36,000 a year before tax, property tax and any empty months. The $240,000 ABSD alone equals more than six and a half years of that gross rent. Illustration only; rents and prices move both ways and neither is predictable.
Questions Before You Keep the Flat
- Can both instalments be paid from income if the flat is empty for a few months?
- Would repaying the HDB loan first, to regain the 75% limit, leave you enough cash?
- Is any owner a Permanent Resident? HDB’s conditions differ; check its page.
- How would you exit later? Selling either home within the SSD period adds Seller’s Stamp Duty.
What To Do Next
- Check your MOP date and HDB’s conditions on its acquiring private property page.
- Compare selling first and keeping the flat in the HDB upgrade calculator, then confirm what your flat would leave in the HDB sale proceeds calculator.
- Test both instalments together in the home affordability calculator.
- Read sell first or buy first for the six-month ABSD refund rules.
